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Shiurim & Adult Education
THOUGHTS ON SHOFTIM BY RABBI WILKINSON
“Righteousness, righteousness shall you pursue, so that you will live and inherit the land” (16:20).
Elul affords us a unique opportunity. Every year, Hashem gives us a month packed with rachamim, compassion, to be used in preparation for the upcoming judgment that will take place on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. What is the best way to take advantage of this extraordinary gift? An answer can be found in the Ramban in this week’s parashah.
The Torah tells us, “Righteousness, righteousness (tzedek tzedek) shall you pursue, so that you will live and inherit the land.” After explaining the simple meaning of the pasuk, the Ramban quotes a Midrash that explains the pasuk according to a Kabbalistic approach. Although the complete intent behind his words is hard to understand, there is still an important message that can be gleaned from the explanation: “Tzedek refers to the attribute of judgment in the world. If you judge yourself, you will live, and if you do not judge yourself, Hashem will judge you and you will exist against your will. “
How does one judge oneself? One must answer the following question: “What do I want to accomplish with my life?” Or, in other words, “What is my true desire?” The Vilna Gaon writes that every person has a core desire that is the root of everything they do and say. This desire encapsulates one’s true aspiration in life. However, this desire is buried deep inside a person and is therefore difficult to unearth. When one succeeds in discovering this desire, they will have gained clarity into their essence and deepest aspiration.
The teshuvah process begins with the realization that one is straying after a misguided core desire. Rectifying this desire is a difficult task indeed, one that can be compared to a heart transplant. Uprooting the desire and planting a new one in its place is not a project that can be completed in a day; it might take months or years. Yet the very fact that a person wishes to change his errant aspiration already places them in the category of “one who comes to purify himself,” and they are therefore guaranteed that “he will be helped.”
Rav Wolbe ztl suggests that if a person takes one minute each day of Elul to ask oneself what they really want out of life, they will be well prepared for the Yamim Nora’im. As the Ramchal writes (Derech Eitz Chaim), this pointed question is “the best and strongest remedy that one can find against the yetzer hara; it is simple and the results are tremendous.”
Wishing you all Shabbat shalom
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